What It's Really Like For Real Women to Shop At Designer Stores

For most of us, designer stores are prohibitively expensive. But that's not the only problem with them -- many high end designers don't even stock our size. Writer Claudia Connell wanted to find out what it would be like to shop in a bunch of fancy designer boutiques as a size 14 woman, so she headed to Alexander McQueen, Gucci, YSL, Chanel, and others, to see how sales staff would handle her size, and her specific requests. RELATED: 5 Simple Tips To Help You Stress Less
At each shop, Connell asked the clerk for items in her size; the least expensive item in the shop; for the clerk to take a photo of her in the outfit she tried on; and to use the bathroom in each store. Not a highly complicated or invasive list of demands, you'd think, but amazingly, in several of the places, she was denied. Each location was the rated for its level of overall frostiness and friendliness.
In Connell's estimation, the worst offender -- the most snooty of the bunch -- was Mulberry. She was turned down from taking a photo and from using the lavatory, and when she attempted to try something on, a sales clerk actually told her that nothing would fit her in the store. (Seriously, how rude.) Her best experiences were at Alexander McQueen and Gucci. Both places offered exemplary service, and sizes above a 10. RELATED: 10 New Diet Myths & Facts
The upshot? HIgh end shopping isn't all it's cracked up to be. [Daily Mail]